1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a testing apparatus for a flat-panel display, and more particularly, to a flat-panel display testing apparatus in which the electrode lines are tested in groups and the lines electrically coupling the electrode lines and the testing apparatus need not be cut off after the testing is completed.
2. Description of Related Art
The Information Technology (IT) industry is a mainstream industry in modern life. Especially, the display product for various portable communication devices has become an important development subject in this field. Presently flat panel is popularly used because of its advantageous features of high picture quality, small space utilization, low power consumption and radiation free. Therefore, the flat-panel display, which works as a communication interface between users and information, has accordingly become a very important tool in our every day activities. The flat-panel display is classified in the following categories: the Organic Electro-Luminescent Display, OELD), the Plasma Display Panel (PDP), the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), the Light Emitting Diode (LED), the Vacuum Fluorescent Display, the Field Emission Display (FED), and the Electro-chromic Display. After the flat-panel display is manufactured, it must be tested to ensure of its proper operation before it is shipped to the customer.
An apparatus and a method of testing a Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display (TFT LCD) are described as follows. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a apparatus for testing a conventional TFT LCD. As shown in FIG. 1, the TFT LCD 100 is defined into a display area 110 and a peripheral area 120. Wherein, a plurality of electrode lines 130 is disposed on the display area 110, and a plurality of driving circuits 140 is disposed on the peripheral area 120 for driving the electrode lines 130. For testing the TFT LCD, a shorting bar 150 is electrically coupled to the electrode lines 130 and then a signal is fed into the electrode lines 130 via the shorting bar 150. to check for its proper operation.
After completing the above test, the lines used for an electrically coupling the shorting bar 150 and electrode lines 130 of the TFT LCD 100 are cut to disconnect or separate the shorting bar 150 from the TFT LCD 100. However, the step of cutting the lines electrically coupling the shorting bar 150 and the electrode lines inevitably consumes time and thereby increasing the manufacturing cost.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a testing apparatus for testing a conventional TFT LCD. As shown in FIG. 2, a shorting bar 152 is disposed in a peripheral area 122 of the TFT LCD 102 and is electrically coupled to the electrode lines 132. The TFT LCD 102 is tested by feeding a signal into the electrode lines 132 via the shorting bar 152. After the testing of the TFT LCD 102 is completed, a laser beam is used for cutting the lines electrically coupling the shorting bar 152 and the electrode lines of the TFT LCD 102. However, the shorting bar 152 still remains within the TFT LCD 102 in this case.
Although the aforementioned laser cutting step is rather simple, but since the shorting bar 152 and the driving circuits 142 are disposed in the peripheral area 122, and therefore the size of the TFT LCD 102 is hard to reduce.